Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wanted to limit the offensive opportunities available to Knicks star Carmelo Anthony in Thursday's showdown at AT&T Center, and his players accomplished exactly what he wanted.

Limiting Anthony to 12 shots, they held the NBA's leading scorer to a season-low nine points, and afterward, the Spurs were nearly as puzzled as everyone else about how the Knicks managed a 104-100 victory.

“Yes, we made a decision to take Carmelo out of the game,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “But the Knicks were just amazing shooting, as they have been all season long.

“We're a pretty good team running guys off the 3-point line but they were just sharp. They made four key 3-pointers in the fourth. We're a pretty good 3-point shooting team and we shot 27 percent and they shot 44 percent.”

Spurs veteran Stephen Jackson, who shared defensive duties on Anthony, said the Knicks have learned to trust one another.

“I think last year Melo would have forced a lot of shots,” Jackson said. “This year he's trusting his teammates, and it's shown out there, especially tonight.

“It's amazing how they went from two guys shooting all the balls to a team that everybody has confidence in everybody else.”

Heart to heart: Ginobili was happy to see his Argentine national teammate, Pablo Prigioni, on the floor for the Knicks. At 35, Prigioni is the league's oldest rookie this season, finally joining the league after spending 12 years in the Spanish ACB League.

“It was great to see him out there,” Ginobili said. “It's a nice reward after his great career internationally, in Spain and with our national team.

“We had a nice dinner together last night and it was great to see him.”

Popovich cited a characteristic all the Argentines seem to have.

“They all seem to have the same heart instilled in their bodies,” Popovich said. “(They're) unbelievably team-oriented guys with unbelievable will to win.”

Back to Austin: With the NBA D-League preseason scheduled to begin tonight, the Spurs on Thursday assigned second-year point guard Cory Joseph to their Austin Toros D-League team.

Neal injured: Spurs guard Gary Neal didn't play against the Knicks because of a cut on the index finger of his right (shooting) hand. He suffered the cut Tuesday while handling a piece of luggage before the game against the Lakers. He was able to play in that game, but the injury worsened before Thursday's contest.